Hair cutters



Oct. 21, 1958 A. N. SPANEL 2,856,683

HAIR CUTTERS Filed Jan. 19, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ABRAHAM N.SPANEL..

By 5 ATTO NE) Oct. 21, 1958 A. N. SPANEL 2,856,683

HAIR CUTTERS Filed Jan. 19,' 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ml, 127a 107a 105am1, ma 2!! i 25 INVENTOIR. A BRA HAM N. SPANEIL.

United States Patent Ofilice HAIR CUTTERS Abraham N. Spaniel, Princeton,N. J., assignor to International Latex Corporation, Dover, Del., acorporation of Delaware V Application January 19, 1955, Serial No.482,717

Claims. (Cl. 30-31) This invention relates to hair cutters especiallyadapted for home use for complete hair cutting as well as for trimmingthe human hair; and more particularly to hair cutters whereinreplaceable cutting blades are employed with complete safety as thecutting element.

An object of the invention is to provide a hair cutter adapted to cutshort as well as long hair, evenly and smoothly, with barber-likeprecision.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hair cutter in whichclogging of the cutting edge is materially reduced and the cut hairreadily freed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a hair cutter which may bereadily and economically produced in quantity production.

Still another object is to provide a hair cutter with a double edgecutting blade in fixed position, each edge positioned in a fixed cuttingposition, one for close cutting, such as for shaving, and the other forshortening the longer hairs.

I accomplish these and other objects and obtain my new results as willbe apparent from the device described in the following specification,particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is an end view thereof.

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken at line 4 4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view taken. at line5-5 of Fig. 1 with the partspartially assembled.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a blade clamp plate forming part of thedevice, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4.

Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are end elevational views showing variousmodifications.

Referring to the drawing in greater detail, Fig. 1 illustrates a form ofmy device in which both the blade holder and cage are fixed againstadjustable movement. In this device a double edge blade is essential forsuccessful over-all operation.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 13: a handle, designated as 100,may be conveniently made of flat sheet metal die stamped to suitableshape and formed into a hollow section (Fig. 4) or may be made ofplastic. The outer end of the handle stock is formed so as to provide aguard or cage holding portion 101 (Fig. 3) having oppositely disposedlongitudinally extending parallel grooves for receiving cage bars102-403 of a cage generally designated 3d, snugly and frictionally heldtherein. The cage 3d may comprise the bars 102 and 103 from which theends of wire ribs may extend providing loop end tines having atransverse contour of generally streamline form as shown in Fig. 3. Thetop of the portion 101 may be provided with an axially extending channelor groove 104. A blade clamp plate (Fig. 6) 105 is pro- Vided with apair of axially disposed tongues 106, for cooperative engagement in thegroove 104, and with a centrally disposed threaded hole 107. A blade 2dis placed on the under face of the plate while the latter is upside down(Fig. 6) with the tongues 106 engaged in the usual blade slots. Whilethe blade is held in such position by the fingers of the operator theplate and blade are inserted through an open end of the cage, with thetongues 106 disposed in the groove 104 (see Fig. 5) until the hole 107is centered over a cooperating hole in the portion 101. The threadedshank of a screw 108 is then screwed into the hole 107 of plate 105until the blade is firmly clamped in its cutting plane, which passesthrough the center of the edges of may be replaced by the same process.The head of screw 108 is made with a slot (not shown) to facilitatemember; thus permitting a short or relatively flat head lying close tothe contour profile of the cage. It is especially noted that the bladeholder and wire loop tines are so disposed that, with the blade clampedin cutting position one edge may be snugly disposed against the interiorof the bight of one series of loop tines, as at 110, while the otheredge is spaced a substantial distance inwardly from the other series ofloop tine bights such as 111; in order to provide for cutting short hairwith one edge and long hair with the other edge.

The ribs or tines are spaced apart a sufiicient distance, about A; of aninch, which will permit the skin to be depressed by adjacent tines,causing the skin surface to be raised therebetween, into the shavingzone into which the edge of the blade is positioned. The height that theskin is raised is dependent somewhat on the pressure used, the spacingand the thickness of the between .015 to .030". The edge of the blademay actually touch the inner surface of the tines, or it may be spacedtherefrom a distance of say 34 to which edge the skin surface willproject when the tines are depressed on the skin.

In Figs. 7 to 10, I have shown variations of the embodiment of Figs. 1to 6.

Referring to Fig. 7, the plate holder is provided with a lower member120, having an tical with the plate 105 above described and a lowermember corresponding to the portion 101 above described with referenceto Fig. 3. It will thus be seen that the blade 2e is removably held inthe blade holder in the manner previously described with reference toFig. 3. The lower member 120 in this embodiment may be made from solidstock and is conveniently provided with a handle portion 126 whichextends in axial alignment with the holder in the manner of the handle100 above described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. As in the previousembodiment (Figs. 1-5), the cage 32 may comprise a plurality of wireribs such as 127 providing a series of wire loop tines having theirbights such as 128 and 129 arranged and disposed as illustrated. TheWire ribs such as 127 are secured to the framework in a somewhatdifferent manner; the ribs 127 on their lower side extending beneath theblade holder member 120 and being securely fastened thereto in fixedspaced relation such as by means of a plate 130. With this constructionthe ribs such as 127 may be made separately or may be formed from acontinuous strip of wire in the general form of a helix which may beflattened to the desired con-. tour shown and the ribs such as 127,corresponding to respective helices, may be thereafter straightened intodesired alignment. Where a continuous wire is used the Patented Oct.21,1958.

the wire loop tines. The blade its operation by the use of a coin orother interfitti ng loop tines, which may be helices or rib portionsthereof may be locked in slots, or otherwise secured to the plate 120and the lower plate 130 may be omitted; in which case the plate 120alone will be the cage spine. The shank of the clamp screw 125 passesfreely through the clamp plate 1.30 and blade holder member 120 inbetween adjacent portions of the under side of the Wire ribs such'as127.

In Fig. 8 I- have shown a structure identical with that shown in Fig. 7except that the upper clamp plate designated 122' has its upper surfacedisposed in contact with the interior of the upper wire ribs such as12.7. The remaining parts of this embodiment are designated in Fig, 8with the same numerals as referred to in connection i h Pie 7 w t head eP m In Fig. 9 l have illustrated the two-position hair cutter with' aniopening between. two sets of ribs 12%. In this modification the ribs127a incl n towards the cutting edges of the blade 2 from an offsetportion 127 b, in turn connected by a flat spine section 1270. Theseoffset portions form passageways between ribs for passing the hairtherethrough. The, clamp screw 125a is threaded to a clamping plate 107athrough the blade 2 the two spine sections 1270, and through the plate105a which forms part of the handle. In this version the blade edge 2gmay be positioned about from the intersection of the plane of the bladeand the outside surface of the ends of the ribs. This has been found togive a satisfactory distance for trimming. the hair to shorter lengths.The edge 2h may be positioned from the intersection of the plane of theblade and the outside surface of the ends of the ribs, which has beenfound suitable for close shaving with ribs'spaced A" apart.-

In Fig. another modification is shown with a guard plate 104b havingslotted curled up ends 1040, having about the same spacing and width asthe ribs. The clamp screw 1 25b is threaded to the clamping plate 105b,which is' attached to the handle, through rib spine 127d, blade 2 andguard plate 1041). The curled up ends 1040 project beyond the bladeedges 2k and 2m to provide an obstacle to accidental contact with theedge of the blade. In the case of edge 2m, a line passing through theouter skin contacting surface of the ribs and the edge of the blade maypass longitudinally through the slain contacting edge of the guardplate, as is shown in my co -pending case Serial No. 344,157, filedMarch 23, 1953, now Patent No. 2,746,144 granted May 22, 1956.

The blade position fixing means at all times holds the blade edgesparallel with the outermost portion ofthe ribs, and readily permitsdetachment of the blade for replacement.

I have found that the angle 0, Fig. 10, defined as the angle between theplane of the blade and the outside face of the ribs 127e, which acts asa guide surface, may not be less than 10 nor more than 45 and preferablybetween 20 and 35. 1

The handle may be of any form. As illustrated in Fig. 1, it is suitablefor cutting the hair with either the right or left hand.

The ribs and other component parts, except the blade, may be made ofwire, stamped or cast metal, or molded plastic material such as nylon.

This is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 106,398,filed July 23, 1949, now abandoned.

I have thus described my invention, but I desire it understood that itis not confined to the particular forms or uses shown and described, thesame being merely illustrative, and that the invention may be carriedout in other ways without departing from the spirit of my invention,and, therefore, 1 claim broadly the right to employ all equivalentinstrumentalities coming within the scope of the appended claims, and bymeans of which, objects of my invention are attained and new resultsaccomplished, as it is obvious that the particular embodiments hereinshown and described are only some of the many that can be employed toattain these objects and accomplish these results.

I claim:

1. A hair cutter comprising a blade position fixing means adapted toposition a double edge cutting blade with each edge in a selectedcutting position, and a guard, said position fixing means and guardbeing operatively interconnected, said guard comprising a frame fromwhich a plurality of spaced apart ribs project, the outermost portionsof the ribs forming fronts for the guard, said ribs having innersurfaces which incline toward the sides of a positioned blade to formtherewith a plurality of compartments and outer surfaces forming planesfor supporting the cutter on the hair in proper position for cutting ineach of the two cutting positions of the blade, one position wherein thecutting edge is in close proximity to one of the fronts of the guard,and the other position wherein the cutting. edge is spaced apart asubstantial distance from both the inner surfaces of the ribs andtransversely from the other front of the guard, said blade positionfixing means and guard being constructed and arranged so as to maintainthe cutting edges of the blade and the respective fronts of the guard inparallel position with each other.

2. A hair cutter comprising a blade position fixing means adapted toposition a cutting blade with its edge in a cutting position, and aguard, said position fixing means and guard being interconnected, saidguard comprising a frame from which a plurality of ribs project, theoutermost portion of the ribs forming the front of the guard, said ribshaving inner surfaces which incline towards a side of the blade to formtherewith a hollow compartment, the outer surfaces of the ribs forming asupport for the cutter on the hair in proper position for cutting,wherein the cutting edge is spaced a substantial distance from both theinner surfaces of the ribs and transversely from the front of the guard,said blade position fixing means and guard being arranged to maintainthe cutting edge of the blade and the front of the guard in parallelposition, said hollow compartment being provided with passagewaysextending between ribs in the same direction as the plane of the bladeto facilitate the hair passing into the compartment to freely emergetherefrom.

3. The hair cutter of claim 1 wherein the outer surfaces of the ribs forsupporting the cutter on the hair are disposed at an angle of not lessthan 10 nor more than 45 with the side of the blade.

4. The hair cutter of claim 1 wherein the frame includes rigidsupporting means for its projecting ribs, said rigid supporting meansbeing longitudinally removable from the blade position fixing means andattached blade to provide for sliding detachment of the ribs therefrom.

5. The hair cutter of claim 1 wherein there is provided an auxiliarytooth guard which forms an obstacle to accidental contact with the edgesof the positioned blade.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS847,782 Kampfe et-al Mar. 19,, 1907 1,079,095 Beard 5. Nov. 18, 19131,359,666 Brandt Nov. 23, 1920 1,976,290 Motley Oct. 9, 1934 r 2,127,369Ritter Aug. 16, 1938 2,141,340 Baumgarten Dec. 27, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS21,319 France May 8, 1920 (Second Addition to No. 487,930) 205,154 GreatBritain Oct. 4, 1923 399,937 Germany Aug. 12, 19 24

